Akhtar in dark over Pentangular Cup role

Lahore: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has said he was not consulted over his captaincy role for the Pentangular Cup, and therefore, still unsure about taking up the assignment.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made it clear to Shoaib that his future in the national team depends on his participation in the Pentangular Cup, which begins on Feb 10.

According to Dawn, the national selectors want to use the pacer"s participation in the tournament to assess his match-fitness.

Shoaib has said that he will decide in a day or two about it, but expressed his unhappiness over the treatment being meted out to him by the PCB.

The PCB recently announced one-year central contracts - Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2008 - but did not include Shoaib in any of the four categories, citing reasons pertaining to pacer"s match-fitness for the move. However, under special category PCB has offered Shoaib Rs 75,000 per month but the Rawalpindi Express has not shown any interest in the package so far.

The PCB has been favourably disposed towards unfit fast bowler Mohammad Asif, but not so in the case of leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who has expressed concern over his relegation to 'C" category in the contracts despite his consistent availability for the team.

Shoaib, apparently, is also unhappy over his exclusion from the recently-concluded Zimbabwe series for which he had declared his availability well before time. Reports are also doing rounds of Shoaib seriously considering an offer from the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL).